Inside the Secret Life of a Super Affiliate - Zac Johnson dot Com Let the Reign Begin

What would happen to your business if you were gone? Being an entrepreneur (especially with an online business), can hold some tough realizations about how the “day to day operations” were to run if you were no longer around. Unlike regular 9-5 jobs, or careers that can be trained into, we’ve spent our lives being the best at what we do. In most cases, our better half or family members wouldn’t have the knowledge to come in and keep things running… let alone even know where to start!

As grim as the subject may be, you always need to plan for the unexpected. If you haven’t already, here are a few things to think about while planning for the future of your business and financial security of your family if you were no longer around.

Passwords, Logins and Account Details
Personally, I have hundreds of usernames, passwords and urls all stored up in my head. When I see a certain web site layout, it just triggers whatever the password was that I setup for that account. Unfortunately, this would be nearly impossible for anyone else to handle that didn’t set up these account. It’s always a good idea to have a “written” booklet or note pad tucked away somewhere safely that contains all of the useful information to access your accounts. Whether it’s your affiliate accounts, banking records or billings… you don’t want to leave all of this information lost when your time comes.

Short Term vs. Long Term Business
Is your business model changing every week, or something that will make residual income for months with little maintenance? Even if you are generating almost all of your income from ppc marketing, this is an amazing skill to have, and once you are gone… your successful business is likely to follow. On the flip side, if you have a high traffic site, established brand or recurring income… all of these can still remain in tact and providing financial security for your family later on. Whether your business plan is short term, or has the potential to last for years… you need a backup plan to either have it bundled up and sold, or a way for someone to come in an maintain what you have started.

Recurring Billing, Ad Costs and Domains
Once again, this area can fall under having a document of all accounts and passwords. There is so much to think about when looking at our businesses as a whole. When are your domains expiring, are you pre-paid on hosting or paying monthly… what recurring charges are on your credit card that you will get billed for if they are used of not. This continuing list is a huge factor in whether your business will succeed if you are gone.

Business Model: What is it?
The most important factor to the success of your business, is your business model. It’s hard enough for us to explain to the “average person” what we do and how to make money… imagine being left with everything we started, and no idea where to start! When you are no longer the business, can someone step in and continue what you started? Should you have a “foster” entrepreneur to manage the business in your absence?

This is just the tip of the iceberg on what can be a massive list for some “one man” operations. The bottom line is… is your business model ready for the unthinkable and will it live on past your life time?

Everyone has different goals in life. Some people want to be rich, while other just want to be more healthy, or a better all around person. Whatever your goal is, you will only get as far as the effort you put forth. You can not be successful, without mapping out the journey that lies before you. Remember, no one becomes the best at anything over night. Even winning the lottery can make you rich… but does that make your life a success?

Visions of Success: Where do you fall in?

The same “vision of success” hold true when applying these principles to make money. One of the biggest frustrations for new comers to internet marketing, is to see a success story of someone making thousands of dollars per day/month. Right away you want to experience the same. We get excited and inspired in the beginning, but don’t obtain our expected goal. As time passes, many get frustrated and give up. The only reason why these success stories exist, is because every one of these stories had another story behind them… which is the massive time and dedication it took to get to that level.

Are you heading towards your definition of  “success“, or finding yourself falling behind. If so, don’t get discouraged. If you’re already on your way… keep owning it up!

Using your phone for internet access and web browsing is becoming a daily rictual for more and more people. On my previous phone, an LG Voyager, I was able to view most web sites… but it was terrible for high intensity sites and even some blogs, especially my own. Not only did some sites take forever to load, but many areas and functions weren’t even accessible. Now that I have the iPhone, my web experience is a thousand times better… but there is still room for improvement! When trying to pull up ZacJohnson.com, it took a decent amount of time longer to load than other blogs, so I came across a great new plugin called WP Touch to solve the problem. In short, WP Touch makes your blog super simple and easy to read on the iPhone, iPod or Android.

You might be wondering how much a quality plugin like this costs? You’ll be happy to discover that it’s free! Not only is WP Touch extremely simple to setup, but it also offers a decent amount of admin and display options for your wordpress site and how it will appear on cell phone browsers. There is even an option to add Google Adsense in between posts, just add your account id in the admin area.

Images, comments, video and everything will still appear on the post pages. For anyone who likes to visit the original version of the blog, you simply scroll to the bottom of the page and click “OFF” on the “Mobile Theme” option.

If you have an iPhone or Android, take a moment and pull up ZacJohnson.com and see the plugin in action. I’m still playing around with the options, but do leave any feedback or suggestions you may have.

There are always new make money program and gurus out there pushing new products with ridiculously long sales pages, which then leads to the sale of some crappy ebook. The problem with most of these ebooks, are they are written from someone who has already made all of their money, and they basically leave you in the dark on any actual case studies, or how you are to get started. My friend Gyutae Park from Winning the Web, just went live with his new coaching program, “The Winners Circle“. Compared to other mentorship and training programs, this one is actually pretty cool because it’s all based off actual case studies and gives you a good idea on what has worked in the past.

Whenever I come across a new training program that looks half way decent, I give it a try. I want to see what people are selling, and if they are actually teaching anything. In most cases, the program consist of a couple ebooks, a members area and maybe a case study if you are lucky. What’s cool about The Winners Circle, is you have full access to a members area, forum, interviews… and most importantly, CASE STUDIES. What separates The Winning Circle from other programs, is Gyutae’s consistency to add new information. A new case study is available to members each and every week.

The “case studies” are what I really like about this program. Think about the possible ROI you can see from being a member of The Winners Circle. Just come across one concept or case study, give it your own twist, then you could have a new source of recurring income in no time. It’s hard enough to start a new business or web site from scratch, and make it profitable, but with actual and proven case studies… it will make your time and efforts that much more successful.

Gyutae’s “ZERO RISK” Offer
This ain’t no a acai berry weight loss offer! Unlike other sites, where you NEVER hear from the company and keep getting rebilled forever, The Winning Circle really does come with a 30 day free trial. Gyutae has been making money in this internet game for a while, and he wants you enjoy his program and wants you to succeed. Give The Winning Circle a test run for only $27 a month ($20 off to first 200 members!). If you don’t enjoy the program, can’t find a way to make money… or even just to drop him a note on what you think of it, contact Gyutae now!

Join The Winners Circle

After writing the “Ten Lessons Learned from Flogs & Rebill Offers” article, several comments were posted, along with many direct emails received. In response to that original post, this guest post was written by Todd Armstrong (Sr. Affiliate Strategist at ClickBooth). Todd is a Sr. Affiliate Strategist in the Email and Search Marketing division at ClickBooth and has been with the company over 2 years. He comes from a marketing background, and specializes in direct marketing techniques.

We would like to thank Zac for addressing this ever- increasing concern within the affiliate marketing industry, that is flogs and re-bill offers. Clickbooth was the first network to release a set of guidelines addressing both blog and review style sites back in April. The fear among many affiliates is that as flogs start to disappear, so will the big commission checks that many have become accustomed to. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be this way, in fact, the large majority of top publishers have already begun testing several different methods and so far, so good. With all the bad publicity generated by flogs, these new and improved methods have been a breath of fresh air for consumers looking to purchase products online. This is a fixable problem and we are here to offer suggestions on alternative methods of promotion, all 100% compliant.

Blogs

All you ever hear is what not to include in your blog, but when is the last time you’ve heard someone say “This is the right way,” the way that will not harm conversions and will be 100% compliant?  Let’s start from the top and take a look at some subtle changes that will turn your flog into a blog.

* Tell a real story! Many networks are willing to give free trials to their publishers so they have the ability to test the product and get a better understanding of how it works.  Having a friend or family member test the product is an ideal way of evaluating how effective it really is. After all, do you really want to promote a product that you wouldn’t recommend to a friend?

* If your site’s sole purpose is to advertise affiliate products, it is a good idea to add a label at the top of the landing page identifying the site as an advertisement.  However, if the page includes added value and non-promotional material, such as factual information or the history of the product, then the advertisement label is no longer necessary.

* Disclose that the name and photos used on the blog are not you, the owner of the page.  You can add this information in the disclaimers section of your site. This is a simple change that will have no impact on conversions, but will make the page more compliant.

* Do not make outrageous claims about “losing 50 pounds in a month” or “turning your teeth 9 shades whiter in two weeks,” when chances are, that this kind of improvement (in such a short period of time) is close to impossible.  Instead, use an actual testimonial of someone who has lost x amount of weight, or turned their teeth x shades whiter.

Doing this will not only make your page and story more legit, but it will also give the consumer an better idea of what to expect.

Review Site

* Another method of promotion is the review site.  The idea here is to compare several similar products and offer the consumer a look into the pros and cons of each.  Many of the same principles that apply for blogs, also apply for review sites.

* Again, contact your affiliate strategist to get samples of the products you are reviewing, so that you can conduct a real review.

* Be sure to place asterisks next to product names directing the consumers back to the proper disclaimer.

* Make legitimate, realistic claims about the results a prospective buyer can expect to see.

* Steer clear of claims saying you have done scientific research or are an expert in the field, unless you are. Instead, give an honest review of your experience with the product.

* Be sure to disclose relevant details of the review and testing process, thus giving the consumer the confidence that each product was tested under the same conditions.

Informational Site

* This is a concept that has gained considerable momentum over the past few weeks.  In an ever-changing industry, it’s extremely important to stay on top of the new trends and this is definitely one of them.

* Informational sites are purely factual, which means they should only contain solid facts that can be backed up.

* With informational sites, you want to increase the customers understanding of the product. Giving all relevant information, such as where the product came from, the ingredients, and a description of the effects, are all great ways of doing this.

* Give as much background info on the product as possible.  When did it come to the market?  What are it’s origins?  What else can it be used for?  Any additional information will help to differentiate you from the crowd.

* With so many consumers losing confidence in the flog style of marketing, it will be a site like this (full of facts and honest information) that will help restore that confidence.

Making these changes will not only make your page and story more legit, but it will also give the consumer an honest idea of what to expect.  Affiliates who are quick to make the necessary adjustments will be the ones who walk away with a smile on their face and huge commission checks in their pockets.

Please contact us if you would like us to review your site, or if you have any questions regarding the best compliance standards. We can be reached via email at publishers@clickbooth.com and would be happy to offer advice on how to make your page 100% complaint.